s.

"Moreover, whenever I choose, the rulers of France can be made to
believe in a francophile reincarnation of M. Crispi! I have many
things in store for them in that quarter.

"Deceived by the infinite resources of my diplomacy, led astray by my
agents who have taken on less reptilian disguises, the guileless French
nation remains a prey to ignorance and ambitions as countless as the
sands on the shore of her democracy.

"To sum up; England, through India; England and Germany, through China,
we hold in our hands that question of an Asiatic war, a scourge which
will exhaust the strength of your Empire, O Tzar! and which may finally
weaken France. I have said!"

'Tis a long tale, and were it all told at one time, Alexander III would
certainly not listen to half of it. But William II spent a fortnight
in Russia, and I have only an hour to summarise his argument.

Have the wings of the German Emperor the span of those of Lucifer, as
he believes? He may play the part, but he will never be able to carry
it through!

August 28, 1890. [11]

Although for the meeting of these two powerful Emperors (whose
destinies, as history proves, are so frequently commingled) there was
no real necessity, other than the desire of the young and restless King
of Prussia, to keep the whole world guessing as to the object of his
multifarious designs, their coming together has its undeniable
importance and significance, for it has been the means of increasing
the resistance and strengthening the determination of the Tzar.
Alexander III, whose mind reflects the great and untroubled soul of
Russia, is well able to estimate at its true worth the insatiable greed
of Germany and the ever-encroaching character of her ruler. Because of
his own self-control and disinterestedness, the Tzar must have been
able to gather from William's words and works a very fair idea of his
unbounded self-conceit; of that vanity which, like its emblem the eagle
of the outspread wings, aspires to cover the whole earth.

Even though William has offered to the Emperor of Russia the prospect
of a general disarmament; even though, with his present mania for
speech-making he may have suggested a Congress for the settlement of
Europe's disputes, his success must have been of the negative kind.

If the Tzar were to agree to a conference, it could only lead to one of
two results. Either it would embitter those disputes which threaten to
embroil the nations in